Shopping habits have changed enormously in the past 100 years. At one time, goods were mainly purchased from various specialist shops – meat from a butcher and vegetables from a greengrocer, for example. In many countries, it is now more common for households to buy everything from one store and to visit shopping centres, where individual shops are housed under one roof. Also, since the late 1990s, the Internet has allowed more and more people to do their shopping without leaving home.
When I was young most of the shopping was done in traditional shops including the local Butchers, Bakers, Grocers and Newsagents.
Over the years as supermarkets appeared some of those traditional shops closed down and small corner shops selling many of the same things started to appear, often staying open much later than the new supermarkets. As the supermarkets stayed open for longer and longer hours even many of the small corner shops disappeared. As the supermarkets (Hyper markets) have grown larger and more have appeared other areas of shopping which have been affected include Clothing, Hardware, Car Spares and many other areas.
We have created this section hoping to get memories from those who ran and those who shopped at the traditional Butchers, Bakers and greengrocers and your views on what we have lost due to these changes.
As consumers we have gained through better prices often more consistent quality and often better choice but are we really better off.
The concept of a department store goes back in history to late 1800’s but has evolved and changed as has the rest of the shops. Originally most of the department stores were independent and owned locally in the city they traded. This has been the biggest change in the last 50 years where now a single company may own 20 brands trading in City centres and out of town Malls.
Department stores are identified by the fact they sell a wide range of products including clothing, furniture, appliances, toiletries, cosmetics, jewelry, toys, and sporting goods. Two of the best examples of the largest of these Department Stores could be considered as Macy’s in New York and Harrods in London.
In some areas as changes have evolved the distinction between a department store and a supermarket has been eroded a good example of this would be Walmart who originally were considered a discount department store but now could be called (Department Store, Supermarket, Hyper market or a discount department store) as Walmart has moved into food and grocery and have built new superstores that are large enough to sell the traditional products they started with together with a full range of foods and grocery’s . As another example Marks and Spencer in the UK has added large food courts and furniture sales as part of their newer and larger stores so the distinction between supermarket and department store continues to become harder to identify.